Storm knocks out power, damages homes in Ocala

A storm uprooted trees, damaged homes and wreaked havoc on a gas station as thousands of people lost power in Ocala Wednesday evening.

By Austin L. MillerStaff writer

A storm uprooted trees, damaged homes and wreaked havoc on a gas station as thousands of people lost power in Ocala Wednesday evening.Ocala Utility Services reported that 4,400 customers lost power. As of 11:35 p.m. Wednesday, officials said only 1,600 of those customers were still without power, with crews planning to work through the night. As of 8 a.m. Thursday, 584 customers were still without power.

Kate Guillett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, said the affected area, which was mostly in the southeast section of Ocala, experienced what's called a downburst – a mixture of wind and rain – with wind gusts up to 55 mph.

The weather phenomenon was slow moving – about 5 mph – which accounts to some extent for the significant damage.

Guillett said the weather service received no calls about a tornado hitting the area. If it had been a tornado, she said, there would likely have been a more a twisting pattern and things would have been scattered throughout.

When the storm came through shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dawn Soucey, her three young children and her parents, Jeffrey and Sharon Jones, were in the den at her father's house at 20 NE 50th Ave.As the storm raged, a large tree in the front yard was uprooted and crashed into the den. Soucey was hit in head, and her mother had scrapes on her arm. But no one received serious injury.The tree caused substantial damage to the home, crushing the garage and damaging one side of the house.At a rental property one street over, at 100 NE 50th Court, a large tree in the front yard split in three sections, damaging portions of the vacant home's roof and the garage.Neighbors said the previous tenants had moved out a day or two ago.Next-door neighbor Bob Schwed said he was inside his home when he heard the crash and came outside. He said that he and several neighbors began cleaning up as well as they could, removing debris from the middle of the street.Other neighbors, armed with chainsaws, began removing limbs from the house.At 5790 NE Seventh St., a Diamond Oil gas station was seriously damaged by the storm. Wind flipped the metal canopy that sheltered the pumps. The storm also wrecked two of the pumps.Marion County firefighters on scene said the gas station was fortunate there was no fire. They said valves shut off automatically when the pipes were ruptured.Danny Patel and Rahul Patel, who were working inside the store when the incident occurred, said they didn't see the canopy crash but heard a loud noise.Trees were down elsewhere in Marion County, but a Sheriff's Office supervisor said there were no reports of serious damage.Between the city and county, fire rescue personnel said they responded to nearly 100 incidents during an 1½-hour timespan, which began around 6 p.m.Among the calls for service were fire alarms, downed power lines and trees, trees in roadways and yards, and traffic accidents.Surrounding communities, such as Dunnellon and Belleview, had no significant damage, officials there said.For Thursday afternoon, Guillett, the meteorologist, said the area should see some showers after 2 p.m., with temperatures in the low to mid-90s. Highs for Friday should be about the same, low to mid-90s, with showers expected in the mid-afternoon.

While it's not out of the question that the area will experience a similar event on Thursday, Guillett said the likelihood of that occurring is minimal.